Goodbye Tonight
by Lov3the3vil
Summary: AU. Fayt is a mercenary on the run and Nel, by chance, happens upon him when he enters Peterney. From there it's the start of an odd friendship. The adventure they begin after that is more dangerous than any Nel's ever experienced. Better summary later.


DISCLAIMER: Not mine, don't sue.

Goodbye Tonight

Chapter 1

Nel Zelpher wandered the streets of Peterney with an unusual dilemma on her hands; Clair had successfully managed to get her to take a week off from work. This was why she was now faced with her current situation. What did one for when they were on vacation?

She'd been with the Crimson Blades since she was 15, now she was one rank below her captain, who happened to be her best friend, Clair. But for all her 10 years, she'd never taken a vacation. Clair had told her to relax, but relaxing was performing sword forms in the middle of a training session. When she'd said as much to Clair she had released an exasperated breath of air and just told her to wander Peterney and stay out of trouble. If she didn't figure something out before her first day of vacation was up, she'd send her father, Adray, to teach her in his own unique way.

Nel shuddered at the idea, Adray was many things, but a good teacher was not one of them. It still amazed her how Clair had learned anything from him when she was younger, but that was probably because her mother was still alive to keep him in line and out of trouble.

She didn't get a chance to further ponder her dilemma as she came upon a sight which was uncommon, seeing as how it took place right outside the gate leading to Greeton. An open gate which was slowly closing.

A man about her age was speaking with another, older, man as they stood in front of the gate. The younger man had short blue hair and a sword strapped to his back. His hands were covered by leather fingerless gloves and his clothes were a bit odd. His shirt was blue with strange black symbols on it, his black pants were tucked into a pair of heavy duty boots, and a seemingly intricate tattoo peeked out from under his right sleeve. The older man had short blonde hair and a pair of black and gray gauntlets on his hands. He wore a sleeveless black shirt and black pants tucked into the heavy duty boots he wore.

The blue-haired man looked around, "Why are we here again?"

"To keep a low profile. Your last stunt back home stirred up a bit of trouble you know," The blonde answered, turning to walk down the street.

"So? I need to be home to keep an eye on Peppita and Meena, Cliff. Tomorrow's the anniversary-"

The blonde, now identified as Cliff, cut him off, "They'll be fine. Sophia's looking after them for you."

"They'll ask questions and they'll want answers."

Cliff led the blue-haired man into the town center and towards another of the town's sections, or, to be more precise, towards Peterney's bar, "They can ask questions but they won't get the answers they want, Fayt."

"Then they'll search for me, Cliff, I don't want them leaving town, it's dangerous out there," Fayt countered. Nel had followed them discreetly, which was fairly easy considering gathering information was a job she did often, and entered the bar only moments after they did.

"Let them search. Mirage and Maria will simply fid them and bring them back," Cliff replied as he sat down in front of the bartender, "Give me the strongest drink you got."

Fayt growled and slammed his fist on the bar, "You're missing the point, Cliff! I don't want them searching for me! I upset the wrong people with that last stunt, I understand that, but I don't want them getting tangled up in all that!"

Cliff accepted his drink from the bartender and glanced at Fayt from the corner of his eyes, "You shouldn't have adopted them then."

That was apparently the wrong thing to say as Fayt stood up and grabbed a handful of Cliff's shirt, bringing him up close, "We've had this discussion before, Cliff. I couldn't leave them to die out in the cold. I've taught them how to defend themselves," He snarled.

"But what you taught them isn't enough, Fayt," Cliff countered, "You can train them all you like, but no amount of skill will prepare them for real battle."

"I won't allow them to be caught up in a real battle, Cliff."

"Then why teach them?"

"Because despite everything, I won't be around forever," Fayt answered, slowly easing his grip on Cliff's shirt as he relaxed a bit. The outburst draining him slightly, "But I won't let them get hurt. Not while I'm still alive."

Cliff finished off his drink and clapped Fayt on the back while grinning widely, "Good. Because it should only take a month before they get fed up with Mirage, Maria, and Sophia's excuses. By then things'll have cooled down and we'll be able to go back and bring them here. Where it's safe."

Fayt shook his head before grinning at Cliff, "You're a bloody idiot, Cliff."

"Yeah, love you like a brother too, you dolt," Cliff ruffled Fayt's hair and they turned to leave the bar.

The bar's occupants stared at the strangers who came in, drank a single drink, caused a scene, and then left like nothing had happened. Nel was slightly alarmed by the information she'd gathered from the two. From what she's seen and heard, they were both from Greeton and one was in trouble with the law. She frowned, if Fayt brought trouble to Aquaria…no, she'd have to cut the problem off before it began. In deciding so, she left the bar and continued to follow the two.

The rest of the day was spent listening to meaningless banter between the two while they familiarized themselves with Peterney. From the way they acted, they could've been brothers, but from Cliff's last comment in the bar, she knew they weren't. They were simply close friends.

It wasn't until they rented a room in a hotel for the night that Nel got her break. And even that was short lived.

As she sat on the rood above their room's balcony she watched the balcony's door open, allowing Fayt access. He closed the door behind him and leaned on the railing, looking down at the street below them. Silence prevailed for a mere 2 minutes before Fayt turned around, leaning with his back to the railing, and closed his eyes as his face turned towards the night sky.

"How long do you plan to sit up there?" Fayt asked.

Nel started slightly, not having expected him to know she was there. But she didn't move from her spot.

Fayt sighed, "I know you're up there, Miss. So you might as well come down."

Nel slipped down from the rood and landed lightly, her feet barely making a sound on the floor.

"So, who are you?" Fayt asked.

"Who I am does not concern you at this time," Nel answered.

"Well, you have me at a disadvantage then. Surely following me and my friend since we arrived in Peterney has revealed to you our names, yet I do not know yours."

Nel narrowed her eyes at him, "You let yourself be followed?"

"If you must know, yes. Not quite sure why though, something told me you would be a big help in the future. As well as the fact you're practically harmless."

"Harmless?" Nel was insulted by his casual slander to her skills and was pressing one of her blades to his neck within moments, "How's that for harmless?"

Nel made the mistake of blinking and next she knew there was something cold and hard pressed to her jugular and Fayt was missing from in front of her.

"Pretty slow," He whispered in her ear, "For someone of my caliber. Now, are we finished with this petty game?"

Nel shivered when she felt his breath on her ear, it wasn't an entirely unpleasant feeling… She mentally shook her head, derailing that trail of thought abruptly. Externally she nodded slowly and carefully, full aware of the blade against her neck, "Yes."

"Good," He stepped back and removed his dagger from her neck before walking around her and leaning against the railing as he was before, "Now, who are you?"

Nel hesitated a moment before replying, "Nel Zelpher."

Fayt bowed, "Fayt Leingod. It's a pleasure to meet you, Nel," HE straightened and resumed his position, "I'm actually glad I decided to confront you, now that I know my stalker is pretty cute it won't bother me as much."

Nel was glad it was dark out since he couldn't see the light blush his comment had elicited. No one had ever really called her cure, aside from her father when she was really little. She cleared her throat, not wanting to dwell on memories of the past.

"Now that we've been introduced and you've learned of your…_cute stalker_, will you answer my questions?"

"Only if I feel it is my place to say so: Fayt answered, "Cute or not, you are still a stranger to me, Nel Zelpher, and that warrants some measure of discretion, don't you agree?"

"I suppose…" Nel trailed off before beginning her questioning, "I saw you and you friend, Cliff, standing in front of the gate to Greeton on a relatively empty street just as the gates were closing. Are you from Greeton and if so, why come here, to Peterney, of all places?"

"Yes, Cliff and I are from Greeton. And my reasons are my own for the moment."

"What did you do for a living in Greeton?"

"I was a mercenary," Fayt answered without hesitation, "For a group known as Quark. We're Greeton's Mercenary Organization, but we don't work for Greeton's government; well, not lately anyway. We haven't quite gotten along with the new emperor."

"Emperor?" Nel asked. They didn't have kings and queens? How odd.

"Oh, that's right, both Aquaria and Airyglyph have an hierarchy," Fayt said, "Well, Greeton has a hierarchy as well, only instead of Kings and Queens we have Emperors. No female rules," Fayt grumbled, "My boss and my colleagues are working to correct that and the rest of our government though."

Nel didn't quite know what to say in response. His answer had basically told her that he was a part of a rebellion on Greeton. If he were to bring that kind of trouble here…

"What do you plan to do while you're here?" She asked before she could think further on that line of thought.

"Not much, get a feel for the town, maybe adventure outside the town and see what awaits me out in the wilderness. I've found the wilderness more hospital than some towns at times…" Fayt trailed off, looking off to the side as if seeing something she couldn't.

"Who are Peppita and Meena? You mentioned them when you first went in the bar."

"Peppita is my sister and Meena's my daughter," He chuckled at her incredulous expression, "Meena's adopted, Nel," His face relaxed into a somber expression, "I found her on the verge of death in one of the poorer towns of Greeton," His voice was sad and on the verge of depressing, but his tone abruptly turned into a cheerier one, "But that's in the past. Not here nor now. Next question."

"I…do not have anymore at the moment," Nel replied, she'd been a bit thrown off by his sad tone. It seemed there was more to Fayt then she'd first thought. Much more.

"That all? Shoot, I'd have thought you had more questions…"His voice was playful and a teasing smile adorned his face.

"Well, I _am_ your stalker, if I have more questions I'll simply reveal myself to you," Nel couldn't help but play along, even though her mind was telling her to stop encouraging him.

"Well, in that case, why don't you just join Cliff and I?" Fayt offered, taking Nel by surprise, "You can hold your own, that much is obvious from the skill I saw in those few moments of confrontation before, and I would like to have someone around who knows Aquaria as well as you most likely do."

Before she could say anything, he smiled, "You were undetectable to all but me, which is saying a lot if you could bypass Cliff's senses. That means, in my eyes, you're a spy of some sort for…the Queen of Aquaria most likely."

Nel couldn't help it, she had to know, "How did you get all that from a single day of knowing I was following you?"

He waved his finger in the air, as if berating a child, with a teasing smile he answered, I thought we were finished with questions for the nigh, Nel?" He didn't let her answer, "You can accept or decline my offer tomorrow morning. If you wish to join me and Cliff, meet us in the hotel's lobby for breakfast. If not, well, I'll keep a look out for your aura," He winked, "Goodnight, Nel Zelpher, my cute stalker."

"Such an…interesting man," Nel muttered to herself before jumping up onto the roof to ponder her strange encounter with the Greeton mercenary. If nothing else, he would prove an interesting twist to her "vacation". Speaking of which, "Maybe he can help keep Adray from 'helping' me learn to relax…?"

* * *

Fayt lay in bed for a moment before his blonde companion spoke, "So?"

"We'll know her answer come tomorrow morning," Fayt answered, closing his eyes, "Until then."

"Right," Cliff nodded, though Fayt couldn't see it, "G'night Fayt."

"'Night, Cliff," Fayt opened his eyes for a moment, gazing at the ceiling over his bed, before closing them again and drifting off into sleep.

To Be Continued…

* * *

This story is a large work in progress for me. It's also very much a back burner story. So updates will be far and few between. That's just a general warning.

I've had this piece sitting on my laptop for the past year and a half, I was going to finish it before I posted it, but I've been lacking in updates and wanted to show my readers that I was indeed alive and that I was also working on things. This may not have been what I'm working on, but I'm still active.

Reviews welcome. Flames will be used to stoke the fireplace and keep me warm at night.

-Lov3the3vil


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